After months of miserable weather the sun started to shine and the cherry blossoms started to bloom. I packed a Japanese themed picnic and headed to the Japanese Gardens with my family. The gardens are located in the Irish National Stud in Tully, Kildare (exit 13 just off the N7) just 45 minutes from Dublin city centre.
As we drove through the gates of the Irish National Stud we were welcomed by large blooming cherry blossom trees which were being admired by families having picnics on the surrounding benches.
The gardens are beautiful all year around however they're particularly beautiful during the cherry blossom season. I had a chance to meet the gardener Jim and learn a little about cherry blossoms and the maintenance required for such a large garden. Jim told me that the cherry blossoms bloomed a bit later this year due to the cold weather. While we walked around the gardens he showed us the different variations of cherry blossoms and the discrete differences between them (including pink perfection, kanzan, shirofugen, taihaku, incisa and kiku-shidare).
The gardens symbolise the "Life of Man" from birth to old age and the different paths that can be chosen during life.
This is one of my favourite views looking towards the bridge of life.
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| The bridge of marriage |
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The Japanese tea room
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Queen Elizabeth II visited the Irish National Stud during her state visit to Ireland in May 2012 where The Queen enjoyed a stallion parade and unvieled a sculpture dedicated to a thorough bred horse born in the stud called "Sea the Stars". Click here to see more details.
For more info on the Japanese Gardens and the Irish National Stud see the links below:
http://irishnationalstud.ie/
http://irishnationalstud.ie/visitors/46/europes-finest-japanese-gardens.html
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